Tribute to a Shining Example

Sheikh Abdul-Halim Sadulaev (right) with Aslan Maskhadov

"The President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Abdul-Halim Sadulaev, with whom I had the happiness to work together for a whole three years after the Russian-Chechen war (1994-1996), has died a hero’s death on the path of Allah. Contact with Abdul-Halim brought me and my comrades enormous pleasure, as through his sermons and the personal example of his life he fortified our iman. He was not in the habit of interrupting others, even when a small child talked with him. He was an astonishingly honest person, who through the divine gift of his speech attracted the Chechen youth. People came from other towns and villages across the Chechen Republic to Dzhokhar for his Friday sermons.

"Tall, slender, beautiful, he reminded many of his heroic predecessor Sheikh Mansur, who also died on Allah’s path. Today it will be hard for us to get used to the thought that Abdul-Halim Sadulaev will no longer be with us. However, we should not feel too distraught, knowing that our brother Abdul-Halim is in Paradise, as a person who sacrificed his life on the path of Allah."

First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Ilyas Musaev

Operation Hollywood Brainwashing

"If you think of propaganda Lassie is not the first thing that springs to mind. Nevertheless, over the years, Lassie and hundreds of other TV shows and movies have been made with assistance and/or script ‘advice’ from the US government.

"Operation Hollywood was from the CBC’s passionate eye programme. It centres on the book of the same name by Dave Robb, who was an investigative reporter for a Hollywood trade paper. He began to look through some of the documents detailing the various involvements of the US government in the movie industry and was astonished by the depth of the collaboration.

"He runs through a list of films. See if you can spot a pattern…
Military Assistance:
Top Gun; Patton; Pearl Harbour

No Assistance:

Full Metal Jacket; Platoon; Three Kings"

Read: Operation Hollywood and the Pentagon

Censored News Story

Hmm, why is this news story being supressed?

Osama bin Ladin’s role in the events of September 11, 2001 is not mentioned on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” notice.

Five years later Rex Tomb, chief of investigative publicity for the FBI explains, “The reason 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11… He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”

Among many questions, author Ed Haas starts with, “If the U.S. government does not have enough hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11, how is it possible that it had enough evidence to invade Afghanistan?”

Project Censored: News

I think we need our own Anna Politkovskaya to carry out an independent investigation into this. What do you think?

Letter Waws Embracing

Soraya Syed, 2005

Art of the Pen

The Masters of Wisdom

It is an historical fact that a major role in the transformation of Central Asia was played by the society or brotherhood of wise men known as the Khwajagan or Masters. Though they were Muslims and commonly known as Sufis, their doctrines and methods differed radically from those of the Sufi schools of Arabia, Africa and Spain. The Khwajagan are seldom mentioned in books on Sufism, though their successors, the Naq’shbandi, are the most numerous and influential Sufi community in the world. The reason for this is that Sufism has been known in the West mainly from literary sources. Most people have heard of the great Sufi poets, Nizami, Hafiz, Jellalludin Rumi and Attar, and the names of the great philosophical writers, such as Muhyiddin ibn Arabi and Iman Gazali, are almost equally well known. The Khwajagan wrote very little except practical manuals until the fifteenth century.

Who were these men, so little known in the West, and yet so influential over five centuries? The Masters did not spring from nowhere. Long before they appeared, a powerful stream of spirituality was flowing in Central Asia. When Zoroaster lived in Balkh, the ‘Mother of Cities’, in the sixth century before Christ, he inherited a still more ancient tradition. The earliest hymns of the Aryan people contain convincing evidence of having been composed in the far north ten thousand years ago. I believe that a continuous tradition can be traced back for more than thirty thousand years when Central Asia was a fertile region, the meeting ground of different cultures, far more ancient that those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and India which arose six or seven thousand years ago.

Gurdjieff: Making a New World

John G Bennett

Medicine of the Hearts

There are two types of illnesses stated in the holy Qur’an: 1. Illness of the hearts and, 2. Illness of the body. As for the illness of the heart, it comprises two types, the first is suspicion and doubt, and the second desire, allurement and sin.

As for the medicine of the hearts, it can only be acquired through God’s prophets, upon all of whom be peace and blessings, and to correct one’s heart and wash it from impurities one must recognize his Creator and Cherisher, His divine Names and attributes, observe His actions, contemplate His wisdom and adopt the criteria He instituted for His creation. Such hearts also must beseech His blessings by consenting to what He commands and loves, and by abstaining from what He forbids and abhors, and one’s heart will know no trueness or experience true life otherwise. Such knowledge can only be learned from the teachings of His messengers, upon all of whom be peace, and thinking otherwise will be completely wrong and unfruitful. Therefore, should one think that he can do oppositely, it means that he merely fosters the health and strength of his animal mind, desire, lust, carnality and wantonness. His life will be meaningless and similar to that of animals, while a true heart of piety is free from such base associations. One who cannot discern the difference between these two types of hearts should cry for his losses, for a true heart is alive, and a heart that is blinded with carnality is dead, and a true heart is filled with light while a dead heart is submerged in the abyss of darkness.

Medicine of the Prophet by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya

The Silence

UMMAT: "You have been accused of involvement in the attacks in New York and Washington. What do you want to say about this? If you are not involved, who might be?"

USAMA BIN LADEN: "In the name of Allah (God), the most beneficent, the most merciful. Praise be to Allah, Who is the creator of the whole universe and Who made the Earth as an abode for peace, for the whole humankind. Allah is the Sustainer, who sent Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for our guidance. I am thankful to the Ummat Group of Publications, which gave me the opportunity to convey my viewpoint to the people, particularly the valiant and momin (true Muslim) people of Pakistan who refused to believe the lies of the demon (Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf).

"I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of a battle.

"Whoever committed the act of 11 September are not the friends of the American people. I have already said that we are against the American system, not against its people, whereas in these attacks, the common American people have been killed. ...Is it not that there exists a government within the government in the United Sates? That secret government must be asked as to who carried out the attacks.

"Our silence is our real propaganda."

Source: Ummat, Urdu-language daily newspaper based in Karachi, Pakistan -
Friday, 28 September 2001 - pages 1, 7.
Source: BBC Monitoring Service.
Source: http://www.khilafah.com/

Ummat Interviews Usamah Bin-Laden 28 September 2001

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "Much silence and a good disposition, there are no two works better than those."

Allah's Swords

Utter a word of truth
That goes against the king,
And behead yourself with
The sword of your own tongue.

Amir Khusrau

The Carpet Weaver

One weaver was restoring an antique carpet. He had an assistant who didn't believe in God. This always mystified the weaver. At last, he brought out the carpet and showed it to his assistant. The assistant marvelled at the fine repair work.

"But I didn't do anything to it", objected the weaver.

"How do you mean?" asked the assistant, puzzled.

"The carpet simply repaired itself."

"But that's impossible!"

"So how can you believe that the universe could exist, without the hands of a Creator? It is just as ridiculous to think that the world created itself as that this carpet restored itself."

Then the assistant understood.

Oil Soldier

Nicolas Lampert

Visual Resistance

The Shocking and Awful Truth

"This document contains an in-depth analysis of the concept of “Shock and Awe” warfare as set forth by its architects and authors in “Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance,” a book published by the National Defense University (December 1996), an institution funded by the Pentagon. The concept came into the news recently when on January 24, 2003 CBS News reported and confirmed that the Shock and Awe concept was the basis for the U.S. war plan for Iraq.

"Conventional warfare exists based on particular established, “tried and true” doctrines, which are specific concepts that function as guidelines for planning and executing military operations. “Shock and Awe” was proposed in 1996 by its planners as a “revolutionary” new doctrine based on the idea that it might be possible to defeat an adversary’s will itself – essentially to so rapidly overwhelm all aspects of his being with destruction and fear so that he is demoralized, confused, and hopeless; so that he risks no further pain.

"Shock and Awe is notable in another way: the plan explicitly calls for targeting of civilian infrastructure such as “water supplies, food processing and sanitation.” The destruction of Iraq’s water supply during the 1990-91 Gulf War resulted in a health and sanitation crisis, which was well-documented by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency while the crisis progressed. These important declassified documents are reviewed and cited in the context of Shock and Awe’s heavy emphasis on the destruction of an adversary’s water supplies, sanitation facilities, and power grids. It is this priority of Shock and Awe, along with its fundamental prerequisite of “imposing an overwhelming level of Shock and Awe,” which will make it so controversial.

"With that in mind, it is of significant interest that the mainstream American corporate media have chosen to all but ignore the substance of Shock and Awe. Media coverage to date has mostly avoided close scrutiny of Shock and Awe’s original text.

"When there has been reporting on Shock and Awe it has sometimes centered on the fact that the plan’s key architect and author, Harlan K. Ullman, revealed in an interview on CBS News January 24, that 300-400 cruise missiles would strike targets in Baghdad on the first day of a Shock and Awe war. (During the first Gulf War, which lasted 39 days, a total of 325 cruise missiles were launched.) On the second day, another 300-400 missiles would strike Baghdad. And with the 1,500 or more conventional “smart” 1-ton bombs, and high numbers of “e-bombs,” some have said it would be 10 times the amount of ordnance dropped during the entire Gulf War – al in about 48 hours.

"Coupled with the fact that a fundamental tactic of Shock and Awe is to destroy non-military zones and facilities (see discussion below), suddenly the level of destruction takes on a new significance. Consider this excerpt from the text:

'Shock and Awe are actions that create fears, dangers, and destruction that are incomprehensible to the people at large, specific elements/sectors of the threat society, or the leadership. Nature in the form of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, uncontrolled fires, famine, and disease can engender Shock and Awe. The ultimate military application of Shock and Awe was the use of two atomic weapons against Japan in WW II.'"

The "Shock and Awe" Experiment

So, "Shock and Awe" is the military code-name for warfare aimed at killing and terrifying the civilian population. Pure terrorism.

Lacing the Media with Messages

'Relying heavily upon established circles of contacts within the nation's media elites, Dulles recruited key members of the media to work directly for the CIA under Operation Mockingbird. Mockingbird was a psychological information campaign against the American people. In a campaign that would lead to acceptance of blanket secrecy for "national security", "the Red Scare" became the excuse for spending vast sums of money on weapons systems and an increase in covert operations both in foreign countries and within the United States. In the 1950s and 1960s, movies, news articles, books, radio and television programs were carefully laced with anti-communist messages and images designed to produce an acceptance of the policies being promoted by the defense elite's propaganda machine.

"Among the executives who lent their cooperation to the Agency were William Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System, Henry Luce of Time Inc., Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the New York Times, Barry Bingham Sr. of the Louisville Courier-Journal and James Copley of the Copley News Service. Other organizations which cooperated with the CIA include the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Newsweek magazine, the Mutual Broadcasting System, The Miami Herald, and the old Saturday Evening Post and New York Herald-Tribune. By far the most valuable of these associations, according to CIA officials, have been with The New York Times, CBS, and Time Inc."'

"The CIA and the Media", Carl Bernstein, Rolling Stone, Oct 20 1977

From: Project Censored: US Electromagnetic Weapons and Human Rights (pdf file)

Myths and Realities

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He believes that "Muslim terrorists" did not carry out 9/11. Read his full article. It is enlightening.

Gullible Americans

Here's an excerpt:

"How do you know that 9/11 was a Muslim terrorist plot? How do you know that three World Trade Center buildings collapsed because two were hit by airliners? You only “know” because the government gave you the explanation of what you saw on TV. (Did you even know that three WTC buildings collapsed?)

"I still remember the enlightenment I experienced as a student in Russian Studies when I learned that the Czarist secret police would set off bombs and then blame those whom they wanted to arrest..

"When Hitler seized dictatorial power in 1933, he told the Germans that his new powers were made necessary by a communist terrorist attack on the Reichstag. When Hitler started World War II by invading Poland, he told the Germans that Poland had crossed the frontier and attacked Germany.

"Governments lie all the time--especially governments staffed by neoconservatives whose intellectual godfather, Leo Strauss, taught them that it is permissible to deceive the public in order to achieve their agenda."

"It is certainly a known and non-controversial fact among physicists and engineers that the only way buildings can collapse at free fall speed into their own footprints is by engineered demolition."

"Scientific evidence is a tough thing for the American public to handle, and the government knows it. The government can rely on people dismissing things that they cannot understand as "conspiracy theory.""

Use logic. Be intelligent. Examine the evidence.

The Lessons of Vietnam

Before the illegal invasion of Iraq, many times I read in the papers the opinion that this war would be another Vietnam. The suggestion was that it would prove so deeply unpopular and unprovoked that popular protest would force the war to end. Well, the papers were wrong.

This war is no repeat of Vietnam. Because the past has been studied and lessons learned. This time round, careful measures have been taken. Hospitals have been bombed, so that the number of civilian deaths cannot be calculated by doctors. Despite this, the doctors of the West have shoved their noses into this war and worked out their own rough estimates. The Lancet puts their conservative estimate at 655,000 million dead Iraqis so far. (Lying about the Dead). But the most important factor in avoiding another Vietnam has been media control. Put another way, censorship. There have been reports of western journalists who carry out independent investigations in Iraq being shot at deliberately by US troops. Murdered. (Read Where Is America's Politkovskaya?).

Right from the start of this war, from before the invasion began, our journalists obediently printed what they were told. Mr Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction"? Fine, we'll print it without investigation. Dodgy intelligence about sales of uranium? Fine, we'll print it straight away. In the USA, journalists even created the impression that 9/11 was the work of Saddam Hussein.

In reality, these are not journalists. They are prostitutes.

And another new strategy to avoid Vietnam Number Two. This time round the leaders of the West have decided to terrorise their own population. Take away their right to protest. Arrest five-year-old children. (Kidnapped to Order).

This is no second Vietnam war. Because the "War on Terror" is a War of Terror.

War of Terror

What if thousands of innocent men have been arrested to give the appearance of a vast “terrorist” conspiracy against America where none exists?

Bush Running Kidnapping Ring

Naked Emperors

Do you remember where you were and what you thought on 11 September 2001? I can remember the first rumour to circulate was that a Japanese terrorist group had carried out this attack to get revenge for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nobody knew who had done this. Everybody was shocked. Shock and awe.

Then in a matter of two or three days, the White House announced: We've found out who did it. And the list of the nineteen Arabs was released. And Usama bin Laden's photo flashed around the globe. Repeatedly.

Then I remember reading a little article, three weeks later, in the newspaper, which said that Usama bin Laden announced that this was not his work. When people close to me attacked me for being a Muslim, saying, Look what they did, look what you Muslims did, I answered: I still don't know who did this. Nobody had claimed responsibility.

Then the videos of Usama bin Laden claiming responsibility started emerging. I remember many people laughed at the first one, saying he looked more like Al Pacino than bin Laden. Then people started to forget. To forget that bin Laden had denied responsibility. To forget that evidence was promised, but never appeared. To forget that when a crime is perpetrated, we normally allow a criminal investigation to take place, we normally allow forensic scientists to take analyses at the site of the crime, we normally gather evidence, real evidence, before announcing to the media who has emerged as a suspect.

What were your thoughts? Do you remember the moment they pulled the wool over your eyes, and you started to believe their lies?

The United States government shipped the evidence -- the molten steel of the skyscrapers -- to China. They removed the forensic evidence from the scene of the crime. Before it could be analysed for explosives. Have you ever wondered why? Yes, the emperor's naked, brothers and sisters. Wake up!

The Decline of Faith

Erasmus said:

"The ancients philosophised very little about divine things... Formerly faith was in life rather than in profession of creeds... When faith came to be in writings rather than in hearts, then there were almost as many faiths as men. Articles increased and sincerity decreased. Contentions grew hot and love grew cold. The doctrine of Christ which at first knew no hair-splitting came to depend on the aid of philosophy. This was the first stage in the decline of the Church."

Jesus A Prophet of Islam, Muhammad 'Ataur-Rahim

May the Muslims avoid such decline, and remember God in our hearts, and unite regardless of our differences in interpretation. May we not lose the way, as those who came before us did...